Five people are in custody after a break-in last night at the home of Frank Tritz in rural LeMars. Tritz said he was in the bathroom when the intruders entered the home through a back garage door.
His girlfriend ran into a bedroom and attempted to hold the door shut and struggled to keep the door closed as the intruders tried to force it open. Tritz said the male intruders fled when she yelled his name. He said "the bad thing is they knew we were home."
The men, dressed in black clothing, had plastic bags with them when they entered. He described them as one white man and four Hispanic males. Some knives and a hatchet were later recovered. A deputy sheriff spotted a vehicle leaving the area and arrested two of the occupants when it went into a ditch and got stuck.
The other three jumped out and ran away on foot. A sheriff’s deputy used a dog to follow their tracks. One of the suspects was taken into custody by a LeMars police officer in the area of the golf course. Two others were located in a wooded area when authorities used a thermal imaging camera and were eventually arrested.